Cody Snavely
After the Los Angeles Dodgers were swept out of the National League Division Series by their National League West rival, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers front office was gearing up for a massive offseason where the team had more questions than answers, specifically in the starting rotation.
While the offense was led by Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, who each finished second and third in National League Most Valuable Player voting, the starting rotation was less than stellar.
Dodgers starting pitchers had a 4.57 ERA in 2023, which ranked 20th in the majors. They were similarly in the bottom third in the majors in both ERA- and FanGraphs WAR, an area where the Dodgers ranked in the top third of the league the previous six seasons.
While there were some bright spots, such as the emergence of Bobby Miller, who made his debut in May, or Kershaw’s superb first half, there were also some low points.
The Noah Syndergaard experiment failed, and the Dodgers shipped the former right-handed flame thrower and his disastrous 7.16 ERA to Cleveland.
The Dodgers’ lack of starters in October was their Achilles’ heel, where the starters posted a collective ERA of 63.90 in 4.2 innings.
The Dodgers entered the offseason with a clearly needed upgrade, and President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman had a name circled on his bingo card from his old stomping grounds in Tampa Bay: right-handed pitcher Tyler Glasnow.
Glasnow’s career before the trade can be described as top-end stuff plagued with injuries.
Originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fifth round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Player Draft, he was shipped in a massive lopsided trade to the Tampa Bay Rays along with Austin Meadows and Shane Baz for Chris Archer.
Glasnow would be an integral part of a Rays team that made the postseason in five straight seasons and won the American League pennant during the shortened 2020 season.
However, like most players on the Tampa Bay Rays, Glasnow reached a point in his career where he was priced out of the small market’s pocketbook, and that was the case entering this past offseason.
Rumors started to swirl that the Tampa Bay Rays would begin shopping Glasnow this offseason as the righty was due twenty-five million dollars, a dollar figure the Rays did not want to meet.
As the fall months turned to winter, the Dodgers and Rays came to an agreement that would send Tyler Glasnow and Manuel Margot to the Dodgers in exchange for young right-handed pitcher Ryan Pepiot and minor league outfielder Jonny DeLuca.
Despite the recent health issues that Glasnow has faced, the trade was contingent on Glasnow signing a contract extension, which would inevitably get done as the Dodgers and Glasnow would reach an agreement on a five-year, $135 million contract, which could potentially reach $145M if the Dodgers exercise a $30M club option in year five.
It has been well documented the risk the Dodgers took in acquiring Glasnow for the 2024 season and the even greater gamble they took in giving him an extension with guaranteed money.
Glasnow underwent Tommy John Surgery during the second half of the 2021 season during his age thirty-one season. He would return at the tail end of the 2022 season and even make the Rays’ lone postseason start in the 2022 American League wild card round against the Cleveland Guardians. However, 2023 was the best season of the righties’ career up until that point.
Glasnow pitched a career-high in innings, tossing 120 innings, twenty-one starts, 162 strikeouts, and a 3.53 ERA; however, if it weren’t for an oblique injury, the righty could’ve started at least thirty games.
The 2024 season would have been the second full season removed from Glasnow’s Tommy John Surgery, and the Dodgers were confident in their new ace preparing to push him to new limits he had not yet reached in his major league career, believing that his arm injuries were freakish and a thing of the past.
So far this season, Glasnow has been as advertised, with the Dodgers setting a new career high in starts (25), quality starts (14), innings pitched (134.0), strikeouts (168), and WHIP (0.95) while also having a 2.90 FIP, 86 ERA-, and .253 BABIP.
Glasnow was also elite according to Baseball Savant, ranking in the 97th percentile in xERA, 95th in xBA, 94th in K%, and 95th in pitching run value.
However, entering mid-August, the Dodgers scratched Glasnow’s scheduled start against the St. Louis Cardinals and later placed the righty on the 15-day injured list with right elbow tendonitis.
Fast-forward to now, and it looks like Tyler Glasnow’s season is all but over after another setback in his rehab, where an MRI revealed that Glasnow has a right elbow sprain.
The loss of Glasnow changes the plans for the Dodgers this October, as the team is now without multiple starters as we approach the final two weeks of the regular season.
It is especially disappointing for Glasnow, who was ecstatic to be traded to his childhood team and to compete in October with the Dodgers in their quest for another championship.
Glasnow is no longer with the team on their current seven-game road trip and has not publicly spoken to the media since Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stated that Glasnow had an elbow sprain.
The future for Glasnow also remains uncertain. If the sprain does not lead to a full tear and only needs rest, the Dodgers should see Glasnow by the start of the 2025 season when the team breaks for camp in February. If it is much worse and Glasnow needs surgery, it will be much harder to plan for his potential return. But rather than speculate, we will wait until Glasnow and the Dodgers address the media on the upcoming homestand.
Over the winter, I was one of many to push the Glasnow to LA narrative, and even after the injury news, I think it was still a necessary move. It just happens to be a case of unfortunate timing, as if it were at the beginning or middle of the season, Glasnow could’ve rejoined the team like rookie right-handed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto has done this month.
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